News & Press

SHAPING A NATIONAL DISCUSSION TO DEVELOP RESOURCES TO BRING MORE DROPOUTS OFF THE STREETS

May 5, 2009
8am-11:15am
National Press Club
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC

“My budget invests in developing…new efforts to give dropouts who want to return to school the help they need to graduate; and new ways to put those young men and women who have left school back on a pathway to graduation.”
-President Barack Obama
March 10, 2009

Event Synopsis
This national forum on May 5 in Washington will involve national organizations to discuss programs, policies and specific legislative ideas to re-enroll high school dropouts.

In discussions regarding high school dropouts, solutions usually go to dropout prevention and early childhood education programs, which are very crucial and key to preventing dropouts. There is very little discussion about ways to re-enroll and re-engage the high school dropouts that are already on the streets now and the number of dropouts that will continue to fill the streets in the future.

This high-level forum will focus on key recommendations regarding the re-engagement of dropouts - particularly in terms of potential revisions and improvements to No Child Left Behind and other relevant employment, training, and social service legislation.

This forum will host breakfast from 8:00 to 8:45am; from 8:45 to 9:00, a welcome and introduction by Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association (NEA) and Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League (NUL); from 9:00 to 9:20, a presentation by Professor Andy Sum of a national report on high school dropouts; from 9:20 to 9:25, two re-enrolled students tell their story; from 9:25 to 9:40, a national policy proposal presented by Cheryle Jackson, President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League; from 9:40 to 10:15, we are inviting Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to discuss this crisis and what can be done to address it; from 10:15 to 11:15, a panel including Dennis Van Roekel, President of the National Education Association, Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, Jack Wuest, Executive Director of Alternative Schools Network, Chicago, and other key leaders will discuss the crisis of youth on the streets and what to do about it in terms of re-enrollment and re-engagement of youth on the streets into education and employment programs.

Desired Outcomes
This policy forum will serve as a platform to elevate and focus a national discussion and action regarding successful programs and policies to re-enroll high school dropouts. The forum could lead to national policies with funding priorities to re-engage dropout youth into school and/or employment as a primary violence reduction and prevention tactic.

This forum will help create a stronger focus to re-engage and re-enroll youth from the streets, particularly in terms of the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the Workforce Investment Act and other key legislation that focuses on youth and young adults, e.g. the Green Energy Corps, Youth Build, the Youth Conservation Corps, etc.

Background
The Perfect Storm
While there were 6.1 million dropouts in 2007 between the ages of 16 and 24 years of age, during the summer of 2008, the U.S. experienced its highest rate of youth joblessness in its history. Combined, the number of dropouts and unemployed youth created a maelstrom of violence that consumed our communities, highlighted in the nation’s urban centers throughout the summer of 2008.

While this rising tide of dropouts, increased joblessness, and waves of youth violence continues, there is an opportunity with the Obama administration to impact national public policies that could make a difference in our local communities.

Laying the Groundwork for Impacting Education
The first year of the Obama administration will be instrumental in laying the groundwork for a set of education and youth employment policies for the next four years. President Obama has stated that education is one of his top policy priorities. Given his previous experience in education - as a community organizer, he developed programs for truant students - and knowledge of both Illinois and Chicago school reform efforts, it makes sense that a platform highlighting the lessons learned about successfully re-enrolling high school dropouts be brought to light as a guide for national policies.

President Obama has stated that “dropping out of high school is no longer an option” and “it will be the goal of this administration to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education”.

Increasing high school graduation involves two integrated steps - re-enrolling dropout students into small comprehensive high schools and retaining students already enrolled in school by revamping, renewing and accelerating achievement in existing high schools.

Across the country, there are a number of innovative programs demonstrating re-enrolling high school dropouts that can serve as successful examples to shape national public policies and inform public debate.

These successful models focus on re-enrolling students who have dropped out of school.

For more information, please contact Jack Wuest at 312/259-2360 or jwuest@asnchicago.org